www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Great Fast - Passaic Criteria

Does anyone have a ready reference that they could provide please?

Thank you,

Jim

Jim,

Though I'm new to the practice of fasting and certainly can't speak for the entire eparchy, the priest at my church gave me the follwing guidelines:

Fasting:

Monday-Friday, one meal a day is allowed. Smaller amounts of food can be taken if needed.

On Saturdays and Sundays, no fasting is practiced.

Abstinence: Monday-Friday, we abstain from meat, all fish except shellfish, dairy products, eggs, and alcohol. Abstinence from oil varies widely; my priest doesn't practice it.

On Saturdays and Sundays, fish and wine (and I presume beer) are allowed.

Again, the above list is in no way authoritative; it's just what I've been told thus far.

May God bless you abundantly as you enter the Great Fast,

Chris

Jim,

Glory to Jesus Christ!

The topic of fasting regulations is very interesting.

Actually entering into process salvation is what the Great Fast is all about. It is a time that we participate in the death of Christ that we may also participate in His Resurrection. And the way we do this is by actually struggling with putting off passions & putting on virtues.

Putting off passions is hard, very hard. Our entire life is a struggle. But the Church is a great aid here. The Church tells us to start with the easiest.

St. John Cassian lists the passions in order: gluttony (eating more than we need, for pleasure), unchastity (sexual impurity), avarice (greed & materialism), anger, dejection (sadness and depression), listlessness (sloth and apathy), self-esteem, and then up to the toughest one: pride.

These are list hierarchy, beginning at the bottom of the list, dealing with passions of the stomach. We must replace these passions with the virtues of self-control, of hungering and thirsting after righteousness, hungering for God, for the Precious Body and Blood of Our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ.

So what we are being told is that fasting merely begins the process of attaining virtues. If we fast perfectly, we have only started. Then, just like the Ladder of St. John Climacus, we need to progress upward. And if we are too satisfied with our fasting, it seems we slip immediately into pride and that could be very difficult to overcome.

We should fast. We should do the best we can. And we should find ways to replace other passions with virtues, again to the best of our abilities. That is the true meaning of our Lenten Journey.

Deacon El